Outfitter review

[Dromsky]

I have considered an outfitted hunt in the past but never pulled the trigger (haha) some friends of mine did this year and had a miserable experience. I dont have any experience to determine if they got worked or just have buyers remorse. I thought I would ask the group what you thought about their experience compared to your experiences in a similiar situation.

My 3 friends booked a fully outfitted hunt, CO 3rd season Buck including land owner tag and access to the ranch, they paid $5800 per man. They were supposed to receive guide services, lodging and meals on the ranch. Things started to change 2 weeks out when they were told the cabin had plumbing problems and they would be put up in a motel offsite, about 20 minutes away. They would still get their meals at the ranch, my friends ok'd this.
The short version is their guide was a drunk started drinking in the am, their meals were not always prepared, they had to cook and clean up after themselves, the kicker is they saw no deer or elk in the 9 days on the ranch and nearby public land. They had been told of pictures from game cams on the ranch of multiple 30" bucks, they didn't see one legal buck.
They were not offered anything in the way of a discount on next years hunt or any consolation for what they spent.
Now I know a good outfitter will not guaranty your success, but if you dont find 1 deer or elk in 9 days in your local backyard, I dont think you should be charging for your services?

Now before you ask, they did not research this trip like they should have, they got 30" buck fever and dropped the coin,
thats on them.
The outfitter has mixed reviews when I searched them.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

Through a series of events, and because hunting with this particular person was more important to me than my own selfish motives (DIY wilderness) I've been on one outfitted hunt. Immediate family members have been on many. The little I've learned is:

1) any decent guide service will have a reference list a mile long for you to call past customers and ask questions
2) any decent guide service will have very limited openings because repeat business dictates how many new clients they can take.
3) when you hire a guide you don't pay for success, you pay for local knowledge and access.

Nothing against guided hunts, in some cases they're mandatory. With the internet what it is and the abundance of guides there's no reason to end up with a bad one. I prefer diy public as the logistics of an extended out of state trip is part of the fun for me. If I was paying for guides though the good ones charge accordingly and if something seems like a great price, there's probably a reason.

 

[wyosteve]

I'd say they got taken for a ride. The motel vs. ranch lodging is probably understandable. But the rest clearly was a money making venture for the outfitter.

 

[JWP58]

This is what happens when you don't embrace the process, and want to skip straight to "booners"

 

[stevevan]

They got took big time! There are good outfitters but unfortunetly too many like the the outfit your friends hunted with. Too many that it makes a guy gunshy to drop a deposit. Myself, and I've learned from experience, I would NEVER book another hunt with a commercial outfitter unless the reference came from another hunter that actually hunted with them recently and they were someone I knew well and trusted. Definetly avoid the sports booth outfitters and don't get influenced by trophy head displays, photo albums, and the sales pitch. Just my 2 cents but I have been with the good, bad, and once with the ugly.

 

[IdahoElk]

I'm still stuck at $5800 per man for a deer? is that what deer hunts go for these days?

 

[odin0226]

That's a lot of coin for a deer hunt. As for no animals, it happens. But the overall experince with the outfitter isn't right. I've used one outfitter on two occasions (in Wyoming wilderness) Trophy Mountain Outfitters. If you google them you'll see some key points:
Pics of animals taken every year
A list of references / letters from clients
Information on what to expect
And how far they book

 

[Gobbler36]

I'm still stuck at $5800 per man for a deer? is that what deer hunts go for these days?

Exactly what I was thinking!!!
No way in this world would I pay $6000 for a deer, especially for a fraction when you can get out there hunt hard and turn up some good bucks.

Feel bad for these guys though, it disgust me that people like this exist and bassically thrive by stealing from others

 

[Murph1]

Right from the start they told them they had plumbing problems 2 weeks out. How long does it take to fix plumbing? Not that long if you are managing your business right

 

[JWP58]

I'm still stuck at $5800 per man for a deer? is that what deer hunts go for these days?

I have a buddy that guides and he's mentioned mule deer hunts are through the roof in price atm, popular hunt apparently

 

[stevevan]

The cost goes up dramatically when you book with an outfitter on private lands. The $ an outfitter pays for a lease is substantial over all the normal costs of providing an outfitted hunt. Leased fees are far greater than what a commercial outfitter would pay a gov't agency (Forest Service,BLM) to operate under a special use permit on Gov't lands. That being said, private lands are generally more productive and the hunter should expect a higher chance to be successful. See no game on a $5800 private land hunt? That is terrible! Extremely poor outfitter, although it's obvious your buddies did not do their research and were impulsive buyers to give their money to that outlaw!

 

[BH107]

If I were your friends i would probably be in contact with the state to see if the guides was even licensed. If not, they would have recourse to get their money back.

 

[odin0226]

Spot on; CO has a good population and a 150"+ can be found in units that require 0 points to draw.

 

[Odell]

If I were your friends i would probably be in contact with the state to see if the guides was even licensed. If not, they would have recourse to get their money back.

Agreed. To not even see a legal buck on private land? That's insane. Something is way off here.

 

[Broomd]

When these guys were told about 'the plumbing' they should have realized the fix was in. They could have improvised with that with pissing behind a tree and drinking bottled water.
The fact that their guide was drinking in the a.m. was the other. That irresponsibility sounds like an immediate breech of contract. I'd sue for my money back based on that alone and I've never sued anyone in my life. I've never killed a high quality Mule deer buck Nor used an outfitter) but if I wanted to, I'd spend that kind of money with an established outfitter with impeccable references.

These guys were hosed big time, and the deer had little to do with it. READ THE FINE PRINT GUYS, and ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE SIGNING ANYTHING.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

If you paid with Charge or Debit cards, submit a chargeback request with the issuer for 75% of the fees paid. Your reason is breach of contract as stated above however you won't have the headache of a trial to appear at. At the same time out the Outfitter publicly on every review site and hunting forum you can C&P to. Yelp, Google, Merchant Circle, Tripadvisor, Citysearch, Ripoffreport, Pissedoffconsumer, yahoo...load em up! The fact that the guide was a drunk eliminates all professionalism and they need to be burned at the internet stake. Flame em! Get any pics or video confirming your allegations?

 

[HookUp]

There is a lot of money involved here, I would make an attempt to recoup some funds. Might try and take him to small claims court saying his alcohol consumption impacted his ability to guide and that serves paid for where not rendered. Might also look into the state's governing body with over site over the outfitter and file a complaint you had a drunken licensed guide. I would also find out who his insurance company is and let them know about his performance.

 

[sndmn11]

I would think that if the alcohol were truly an issue, or any of the other things, that they would have been brought up and either addressed or walked out on before the full nine planned days. That is like finishing your burger and fries, and then complaining that it was cold.
What operation was this?

 

[Dromsky]

I would think that if the alcohol were truly an issue, or any of the other things, that they would have been brought up and either addressed or walked out on before the full nine planned days. That is like finishing your burger and fries, and then complaining that it was cold.
What operation was this?[/QUOTE
Good point, I’m not going to out the operation as I was not involved, these guys are my friends but it’s still 2nd hand information. It appears most of you feel like they were underserved, that was my impression as well.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I would think that if the alcohol were truly an issue, or any of the other things, that they would have been brought up and either addressed or walked out on before the full nine planned days. That is like finishing your burger and fries, and then complaining that it was cold.
What operation was this?

The difference being you don't travel halfway across the country and pay thousands of dollars for a burger and fries. No doubt the guy was BSing em about "staying in the game" and "anything can happen at any time" and all the other cliche hunting stuff we tell ourselves and others. They had saved, carved out their vacation time and committed to this hunt...unlikely to get any kind of refund so I get why they stuck it out. It's called making the best out of a bad situation...they had few options once they actually arrived. I don't assume they have deep pockets either, some folks struggle financially to pull these trips off.